Rolling Stone (1/23/03, p.66) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...GZA's voice cuts like years of indignation and injustice."Rolling Stone (1/23/03, p.66) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...GZA's voice cuts like years of indignation and injustice."Vibe (12/02, p.208) - 4 discs out of 5 - "...he backs his steady, measured flow with enough production power to rouse the world from its slumber..."Vibe (12/02, p.208) - 4 discs out of 5 - "...he backs his steady, measured flow with enough production power to rouse the world from its slumber..."0.4536335

Alternative Press (10/99, p.92) - 5 out of 5 - "...the first clear indication...of where the most important act of the hip-hop decade want to take their legions of followers....[RZA's] a master of structure and strategy..."CMJ (7/12/99, p.26) - "...solid fusion of RZA-esque string play and thumping jeep beats provide an equally formidable backdrop for the Genius's ever-heady lyrical chessboxing....SURFACE is a family affair with impressive guest spots....Behold the first true Wu-Banger of 1999."Rap Pages (9/99, pp.172-4) - "...an album for thinking individuals....GZA is masterful at wordplay, and the accompanying music makes the listening all the more pleasurable..." - Rating: A0.3207674

Down Beat (p.68) - 4.5 stars out of 5 -- "Lehman's scores are teeming with layers of obstinate long tones and angular phrases that are constantly being pulled by an undertow of shifting tonal centers and sharp-elbowed polyrhythms."JazzTimes (p.64) - "Steve Lehman's latest project begins with tenor, alto, trumpet, trombone, vibes and tuba repeatedly forming clustered chords."JazzTimes (p.35) - Ranked #11 in JazzTimes' "Top 50 CDs of 2009" -- "Lehman wrote his new album by utilizing spectral harmony..."Signal To Noise (magazine) (p.56) - "Lehman's pieces make the most of the expansive sound palette, creating rich harmonies and contrapuntal lines while leaving plenty of room for improvisation, and the octet responds viscerally..."0.308805

Rolling Stone (1/4/01, p.108) - Included in Rolling Stone's "Top 50 Albums of 2000".Rolling Stone (3/16/00, p.74) - 3.5 stars out of 5 - "...will strengthen the most evangelical of Wu-fans' faith....The album goes a long way toward reuniting the otherwise disparate Clan itself....Still, Ghostface keeps a firm grip on the mike..."Spin (1/01, p.73) - Ranked #11 in Spin's "Top 20 Albums of the Year [2000]" - "...Results: fun as bursts of adrenaline, a restored Wu-Tang Clan, and a reawakened RZA."Q (5/00, p.107) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Magnificent throughout....Rare is the contemporary hip hop album that has so few dull moments."Alternative Press (5/00, p.85) - 5 out of 5 - "...Amazing....From the opening minutes of this all-uptempo, all-sorta-dissonant wild ride, it shows and proves....a minutely detailed, if largely abstract, document of a unique black artist's emotional life..."The Wire (1/01, p.34) - Included in Wire's "50 Records Of The Year".The Wire (4/00, p.68) - "...[He] sproings out of the slammer, declares 'Rap is like ziti' and the day is savory. Smack 'em yak 'em!....Ghost verbally dyes and bleeds...with at least 9 producers, Ghost is everywhere..."CMJ (2/21/00, p.5) - "...marks a renewed sense of unification and strength within the Wu World Order....a solid reminder as to why Ghostface's voice is the first one you hear on the Clan's inimitable debut."Vibe (6/02, p.109) - Ranked #10 in Vibe's "Top 10 rap albums" - "...Ghost cobbles juicy, tabloid-worthy tales from free-associated verses, spiked with occasional sobs - B-boy becomes B-man..."Vibe (4/00, p.176) - "...exemplifies Ghost's lyrical dexterity. While his thunderous light-speed delivery hasn't changed much, his jagged wordplay is at its zenith....this banger's luscious linguistics and potent production support its claim of supremecy....pure delight..."The Source (3/00, pp.239-40) - 4.5 mics out of 5 - "...an A+ record in Wu fashion....arguably as entertaining as his debut, IRONMAN....With appearances by just about every important Wu figure...[the album] is a Wu album in the Wu-est sense....a big glob of mud, smackin' hip-hop dead in the face..."Melody Maker (2/15/00, p.47) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...while the hallmarks of the Wu sound are all in place on super-claustro tunes like 'Apollo Man'...the album has a more laid-back and funky feel....SUPREME CLIENTELE drops bombs like a crazy-ass Lancaster."NME (Magazine) (12/30/00, p.79) - Ranked #36 in NME's "Top 50 Albums Of The Year".NME (Magazine) (2/19/00, p.32) - 7 out of 10 - "...his ability to paint a dense, cinematic picture with his raps: tales as involved and complicated as a Tarantino storyboard...marks [him] as one of the elite Wu....considerably better than the solo follow-ups of other Wu members..."0.247044

Spin (4/98, p.123) - 8 (out of 10) - "...Killah Priest's jump-cut preaching adds Book Of Revelation bluster and astronaut daydreams to the Wu view, more consistently metaphysical than Ghostface's blunt confessions but still in line with the Wu belief that black soul is more interesting than black violence..."The Source (4/98, p.168) - "...HEAVY MENTAL, mindfully weaves a tapestry of Five Percent-speak, Hebrew Isrealite interpretations of the holy books, and a hip-hop purist's dissatisfaction with the present state of hip-hop..."NME (Magazine) (2/28/97, p.44) - 8 (out of 10) - "...Gruffly swerving from conspiracy theory to street politics to arcane lessons in Egyptology, Priest is as happy imparting down-to-earth truisms as he is astro-travelling through the cosmos....this is not your standard Wu-Tang Clan release..."0.2161635

Entertainment Weekly (9/7/01, p.164) - "...RZA again demonstrates his unparalleled studio might..." - Rating: BEntertainment Weekly (9/7/01, p.164) - "...RZA again demonstrates his unparalleled studio might..." - Rating: BAlternative Press (10/01, p.99) - 7 out of 10 - "...Scattershot and immediate, with every track sounding as if it came off the top of his head..."Alternative Press (10/01, p.99) - 7 out of 10 - "...Scattershot and immediate, with every track sounding as if it came off the top of his head..."NME (Magazine) (9/8/01, p.40) - 6 out of 10 - "...The muzziest, most oppressive atmospheres in hip-hop..."NME (Magazine) (9/8/01, p.40) - 6 out of 10 - "...The muzziest, most oppressive atmospheres in hip-hop..."0.2161635

Rolling Stone (p.72) - 3 stars out of 5 - "Jumping from buzzy lounge-hop to hard grooves to jazzy fantasia and mixing in cameos from Ghostface and El-P..."Spin (p.108) - "His best: the elegantly broken beats and warm, butter-soft melodies of 'Pagina Dos'..."Alternative Press (p.138) - 5 out of 5 - "Dark and lovely even when the jagged edges of Herren's collages are showing, these sounds of silence are a must-hear."Vibe (p.145) - "The broken beats from this avant-garde producer will make your synapses snap..."Mojo (Publisher) (p.112) - 3 stars out of 5 - "'Hide Ya Face' - the excellent first single from this new album - unites two of the world's finest rappers in a tour de force of top-flight MC-ing."0.185283

The Source (8/00, p.233) - "...A major-label introduction to their roster of street-oriented rhyme rascals....serving up topical crime stories with enough enough diversity and varied flows to sound nonregional and to put them on, once and for all."0.185283

Rolling Stone (12/29/94-1/12/95, p.181) - "...With second guitarist Judah Bauer and drummer Russell Simins...[Spencer] wails fractured postmodern bluesoid stuff that's as weird, fun and spooky as original blues-dripping rockabilly."Entertainment Weekly (11/25/94, p.77) - "...New Yorker Spencer and his two bandmates jam like it's blues night in the psych ward....The resulting cross between rock and insanity can be thrilling in its fervency..."- Rating: BQ (10/94, p.126) - 3 Stars - Good - "...Blues Explosion manage to work on entertaining, lurching variations on the power trio format with Spencer himself exhibiting a hectoring deference to both Mark E. Smith and Jerry Lee Lewis..."Alternative Press (12/94, p.86) - "...ORANGE is an ambitious, well-executed release that shows growth while still shaking some action..."Option (3-4/95, p.135) - "...the third official Blues Explosion album peppers its scrungy, bar-based blues with funk, rockabilly, disco, Stax soul, several Elvis shudders, a bit o'white noise, and Beck's infamous phoned-in guest rap....More importantly, it works..."Village Voice (2/28/95) - Ranked #16 in the Village Voice's 1994 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll.Billboard (p.36) - "Fast, punky and laced with nods to the sounds of the '70s..."Mojo (Publisher) (p.58) - Ranked #68 in Mojo's "100 Modern Classics" -- "Beefheart, Stax, James Brown: all get stomped under the Cuban heel of Russell Simins' monster beat."Mojo (Publisher) (p.112) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "ORANGE was the blues as heard from the streets of Manhattan, post-Public Enemy, punk rock and all that other New York noise."NME (Magazine) (12/24/94, p.22) - Ranked #16 in NME's list of the `Top 50 Albums Of 1994.'Pitchfork (Website) - "The Blues Explosion were honest, organic experimenters -- fusing tons of different styles into their musical assault without compromising their ferocity or making any of it sound forced."Record Collector (magazine) (p.94) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[The] balance of rough with smooth, the comic with the deadly serious, was perfect."0.1544025